By Brian Kilmeade, Sentinel, Random House, New York, NY (2015) Reviewed by Vice Admiral Robert F. Dunn, U.S. Navy (Retired) Written in lively style this book is both informative and a quick read. For most readers of Pull Together it will be a review of episodes in the early Navy, important to the history but
By Steve Kime, Authorhouse, Bloomington, IN (2015) Reviewed by David F. Winkler, Ph.D. One of the benefits of managing Naval History Book Reviews is that I get first dibs on incoming titles. Two decades ago, I interviewed Captain Steve Kime regarding his involvement with the Incidents at Sea Agreement negotiations and execution. He shared some
By Vincent P. O’Hara, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2015) Reviewed by John R. Satterfield, DBA America entered World War II after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The nation focused on war in the Pacific through most of 1942. However, the U.S. had established its “Germany First” strategy by 1940. Defeating the Axis
By Renata Eley Long, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2015) Reviewed by Kenneth J. Blume, Ph.D. Built and launched at the Laird shipyard in 1862, CSS Alabama became the most notorious of the Confederacy’s commerce raiders, devastating Union merchant shipping and contributing to an irreversible “flight from the flag.” Her career ended two years later
By John Johnson-Allen, Pen & Sword Military, South Yorkshire, England (2015) Reviewed by Diana L. Ahmad, Ph.D. Thoughts about World War I often bring up images of trench warfare, Big Bertha, and the battles at Liège and Flanders Fields, but rarely does the conflict to protect the Suez Canal enter into the reader’s mind. John
By Philip Kaplan, Pen & Sword, London, UK (2015) Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart Over the years, Pen & Sword have issued a number of Images of War books. This book is sub-titled Merchant Ships at War 1943 – 1945: Beating the U-Boats. The book consists of eight chapters, with each chapter introduced by three
By Hans Christian Bjerg, The Royal Danish Navy, Copenhagen, Denmark (2015) Reviewed by Mark Lardas Hans Christian Berg’s A History of the Royal Danish Navy 1510-2010 offers a brief yet comprehensive account of the Royal Danish Navy’s rich heritage in a new English language translation. The Royal Danish Navy, as it was formally established in
Edited by Bruce A. Elleman and S.C.M. Paine, Naval War College Press, Newport, RI (2016) Reviewed by Nathan Albright Although each paper in this collection contains a disclaimer that the “thoughts and opinions expressed [. . .] are not necessarily those of the U.S. Government, the U.S. Navy Department, or the Naval War College (198),”
By Peter D. Haynes, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, (2015) Reviewed by John T. Kuehn, Ph.D. Captain Peter Haynes’ study on maritime strategy builds a narrative around two questions. First, how did the United States Navy come to publish “A Cooperative Maritime Strategy for the 21st Century” (CS-21): and, more importantly, why did it take
By Jenny Macleod, Oxford University Press, Oxford: England (2015) Reviewed by Joseph Moretz, Ph.D. The campaign fought on the Gallipoli peninsula in 1915 has not suffered from a want of telling. With the centenary of its occurrence now at hand, yet another entry faces the immediate hurdle of offering perspective where others have not. This
By Edward B. McCaul, The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN (2014) Reviewed by Robert P. Largess Seldom has a naval campaign been more critical to the future of the United States than the drive to control the Mississippi River and split the South in two during the Civil War. Along with the naval blockade,
By Dennis L. Noble, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2015) Reviewed by Mark Lardas Richard McKenna was a forecastle sailor who wrote with skill. His literary career was short – two dozen short stories, a half-dozen essays, one completed novel and one novel left unfinished by death. That short published corpus made him the voice
By Frederick M. Trapnell Jr. and Dana Trapnell Tibbits, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD (2015) Reviewed by Nathan D. Wells Individuals who were “present at the creation” of seminal events or organizations tend to be popular subjects for biographies, especially if their influence was of great strategic importance. When those individuals are not well-known despite
By Faye M. Kert, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD (2015) Reviewed by Louis Arthur Norton, Ph.D. During the War of 1812, the burgeoning United States Navy was at a disadvantage when engaging Britain, the world’s most formidable sea power. One method of leveling the maritime “battlefield” was the employment of a privateer fleet. Faye
By Harry J. Foxwel, Self Published, Middletown, DE (2015) Reviewed by Michael F. Solecki The destroyer is a light, fast, maneuverable, and heavily armed class of warship originally designed in the late 1800s to “destroy” torpedo boats. By World War II, these ships were designed and used to escort much larger ships and convoys filling
